Category: Central Route Coordinator News

The month of July has been busy with beginning to plan for the Central Route May 2018 venture from California to Washington, DC. One of the first checklist items was to introduce the prospective Assistant Route Coordinator to the RFTW Board of Directors for approval. That has been done and I am happy to say that Eamon Tansey is the Assistant Route Coordinator for the 2018 RFTW event.

The Southern Route has had an Outreach Program in place for several years that reaches out and visits with Gold Star families along the Route. I have asked Eamon to spearhead that effort on the Central Route and he tells me that good progress is being made.

The next checklist item was to contact the State Coordinators from past years along the Route, to ask if they are willing to remain in their capacity for the planning of the May 2018 Run. I have written all the State Coordinators and have received commitments from about half of them. A major key to a successful Run lies in the early planning by the State Coordinators.

Eamon and I have been talking about what can be done to reduce the number of incidents that happen on the road. What are the main causes? Is it lacking information, training, skills or (fill in the blank)? We are dedicated to promoting whatever it takes to improve safety.

Going into August, we will continue to assemble the Platoon Leaders, their Assistants, and Tail Gunners. On the Central Route, we have been blessed with good experienced leadership and, hopefully, that will continue into 2018.

There is a reunion coming up in Eagle Nest/Angel Fire, New Mexico, over Labor Day weekend which I urge you to attend, if possible. Run for The Wall riders lay commemorative bricks along the walkways for any who have served in the Armed Forces. This is an RFTW service project to honor our veterans from all wars. This reunion is open to all riders. To register for the reunion and for more information, check out this link.
The itinerary for Angel Fire/Eagle Nest is here.

My Wall is Your Wall,
Harlan “Whitebirch” Olson

*Photo Courtesy of The Book “Run for the Wall – A Journey to the Vietnam Memorial”©

RFTW Riders and Supporters,
My name is Harlan Olson, and I have the distinct privilege of being nominated and selected as the 2018 Run For The Wall Central Route Coordinator. The RFTW Board of Directors at their Face-to-Face meeting during the Springfield Summer Reunion last week approved Eamon Tansey to be my Assistant Route Coordinator. I am also happy to announce that Tom Miller has committed to return as Central Route Road Guard Captain. We are in the process of putting together the leadership team for 2018.

We are excited to be introducing the Outreach Program into the Central Route, and will be depending on the Southern and Midway Routes to help us accomplish this task. One of the facits of the Outreach mission is to contact families of the fallen along our route to let them know we still remember.

My Wall is Your Wall,
Harlan “Whitebirch” Olson

*Photo Courtesy of The Book “Run for the Wall – A Journey to the Vietnam Memorial”©